India R&D to help Renault-Nissan make cheap electric cars

“Electric car is going to be part of the future of our industry. We will develop low-cost electric cars based on knowledge coming out of India but deploy it in China, because that is where the market exists."Ketan Thakkar | ET Bureau | Updated: October 03, 2016, 11:34 IST

PARIS: Electric cars are the future for Renault Nissan and the company’s research and development base in Chennai will contribute to its affordable electric project, global CEO Carlos Ghosn said.

“Electric car is going to be part of the future of our industry. We will develop low-cost electric cars based on knowledge coming out of India but deploy it in China, because that is where the market exists. Government support is very important and Chinese government is very keen on driving electrification of cars. In India, there is not much support for electric cars,” Ghosn told ET on the sidelines of the Paris Motor Show.

Ghosn added that he had expected United States to take lead in the development of electric cars for future, but this is instead happening in China due to the aggressive play by local manufacturers and the Chinese government’s support, and as a result Nissan, a leader in the space, is feeling the heat.

“The Chinese market is booming, and we are losing our leadership to a number of local players, who are coming out with cheap electric cars. So we are working towards bringing in our own affordable electric cars for the Chinese market to make sure we don't end up being overwhelmed with what's coming in,” said Ghosn.

On the future of autonomous cars, Ghosn said all the car makers are working towards the solution, but it will take another 3-4 years to see substantial progress in that direction.

Responding to a query on whether self-driving cars can be a reality in emerging markets, Ghosn said: “You need to have drivers respecting the rules. Autonomous car is going to stop at the red light, would a user in Mumbai or Rio De Janerio stop? It will be first seen in disciplined driving counties like US, Japan, Europe, before one starts expecting it in emerging markets.”

Appreciating the performance of the Indian operations, Ghosn said he is very happy with the initial response to the Kwid and he said the company’s first priority is to ensure that it becomes a “solid success” and the second is to bridge the wide gap between Kwid and Duster.

“There is a lot of enhancement we are doing on the project. Our first obligation is to make sure that Kwid is perfectly fit for India. This car is going to go into many emerging markets, so the intention is to not limit ourselves to present success of Kwid — we will be launching many new products in the future on CMF- A platform,” said Ghosn. Renault plans to launch atleast one new product every year in the coming five years and significant part of it will be in the sub- Rs 10 lakh market.

Riding on the success of Kwid, Renault has more than doubled its market share in India at nearly 5%, and it expects volumes to more than double by the end of the year to over 1.5 lakh units.

In fact, segment leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp have reported de-growth of 34.3 per cent, 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively giving a clear indication of a prolonged slowdown in the sector.